Four months after being “retired,” Spotify is letting customers test out a completely overhauled automotive interface called Car Mode.
Expand Expanding CloseSpotify letting customers ‘test drive’ overhauled Car Mode
Author
Kyle Bradshaw joined 9to5Google in 2018 with a special interest in Google’s Fuchsia OS, rooted in his experience of being the first to offer a visual preview of the revolutionary design of the in-development operating system. Since then, his attention has broadened to include the secrets hidden within other areas of Google’s public codebases.
By reading the public Fuchsia code, Kyle was able to prove the existence of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub Max months ahead of their respective announcements. With evidence from Chromium, he reported on Google’s since-canceled efforts to create an offshoot of Android designed for “touchless” feature phones.
In 2018, Kyle reported on three distinct Made by Google Chromebooks in development, the Pixel Slate, the Pixelbook Go — a full year before its release — and “Meowth,” the original version of the Pixel Slate that was canceled due to Intel’s delays that year. For ChromeOS itself, Kyle was the first to demonstrate the upcoming light theme redesign in action.
Looking at the early evidence of the Pixel 5’s specs, Kyle accurately predicted in February 2020 that the Pixel 5 might not be a traditional “flagship” phone. In 2021, he reported that Google’s next headset would be the “Pixel Buds A.”
Kyle was the first to report that the Pixel 6 would mark the debut of Google’s in-house processors, later revealed to be the Tensor chips.
Kyle contributes to the APK Insight column at 9to5Google, discovering the hidden changes in Google’s apps. These efforts have revealed hotly anticipated features, details about upcoming devices, and unexpected connections between companies.
He can be reached for tips or just friendly chat by Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or email. If you’re looking for his other works or side projects, head over to Kyle’s personal portfolio.
Google begins project to make Android Studio more useful for OEMs and ROM developers
Google is beginning a project that would elevate Android Studio from app development to a full suite for Android OS development by OEMs and ROM developers.
Expand Expanding CloseHow to set up Steam Alpha on Chrome OS
After two years in the making, it’s now become possible to play Steam games on select Chromebooks. However, the setup process for Steam Alpha on Chrome OS is a bit complicated; here’s what you need to know.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle Phone & Messages address potential privacy concerns, reduce call & message metadata collection
In response to a research paper outlining the data collected by Google’s Phone and Messages apps, including call and text records, the company has updated both apps to better respect privacy.
Expand Expanding CloseEnabled: Android 13 DP2 preps clipboard editor, bottom Pixel Launcher search, more
Android 13 Developer Preview 2 includes work toward an editor for your clipboard, a redesign for the Pixel Launcher search bar, and more.
Expand Expanding CloseAndroid 13 DP2: New Material You dynamic color theme styles and how to use them
For Android 13, Google has been working to expand Material You’s dynamic color system to offer different color theme styles. Here’s how to try them out early.
Expand Expanding CloseAndroid 13 DP2: Google Assistant voice typing arrives for more Pixels
Once a Pixel 6 exclusive feature, Google seems to have enabled the flagship’s excellent Assistant voice typing on more Pixel phones.
Expand Expanding CloseChrome adding ‘Side search’ panel to make it easier to browse results from Google & more [Updated]
Performing a Google search has become an everyday occurrence for most of us, and now Chrome is working to make it easier to browse your results with a new “Side search” panel.
Update: Google is continuing to expand Chrome’s “Side search” feature by supporting more devices and search engines.
Expand Expanding CloseOfficial ‘Switch to Android’ iOS app may import your iCloud data to Google Photos
Google’s upcoming “Switch to Android” app for iOS may be able to import data from your iCloud directly into Google Photos.
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Google Doodle celebrates 200th birthday of French painter Rosa Bonheur
As part of Google’s ongoing celebration of Women’s History Month, today the search engine’s homepage logo has been replaced with a Doodle honoring Rosa Bonheur, a French painter who helped pave the way for women in the arts.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle details ‘Immersive Stream for Games,’ Stadia’s B2B offering for other gaming companies
Google is officially unveiling “Immersive Stream for Games,” the service to let companies offer Stadia-powered game streaming directly to their customers.
Expand Expanding CloseStadia’s ‘Low Change Porting’ will help bring more Windows games from devs like Steel Wool Studios
Google has unveiled it’s latest efforts to make it easier for companies – including Steel Wool Studios, developers of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach – to port Windows games to Stadia.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle Play Games brings Android games to PC, available now in select areas [Update: Invites going out]
Android games are now officially available on PCs, with Google launching the new Play Games app for Windows in beta, bringing a collection of games, starting with gamers in select areas.
Expand Expanding CloseThis week’s top stories: Pixel Feature Drop, Battery widget, Dirty Pipe exploit, and more
In this week’s top stories: Google Pixel phones (with one key exception) got the latest “Feature Drop” with additions like Android 12L and a new Battery widget, Pixel 6 and Galaxy S22 devices are affected by the “Dirty Pipe” exploit, and more.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle’s Nearby Sharing can now send to multiple Android or Chrome OS devices at a time
Nearby Sharing, Google’s answer to AirDrop, is gaining the ability to send files and more to more than one Android or Chrome OS device at the same time.
Expand Expanding CloseChrome OS will soon let you set your wallpaper from Google Photos [Update: Enabled]
Chrome OS will soon have a way to set your wallpaper to one of your favorite images or albums from Google Photos.
Update: This feature is now available in the latest Chrome OS Canary builds, allowing us to see Google Photos integration in action.
Expand Expanding CloseStadia 4.6 for Android prepares motion controls, touch gamepad revamp, more
The latest update to the Stadia app for Android points to Google’s game streaming service gaining motion controls, a revamped touch gamepad, and more.
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Alleged image of Carl Pei holding the Nothing phone shows little more than nothing
We may now have our first image of the upcoming Android phone from Nothing – the brand’s next step after its Ear 1 wireless earbuds – in the hands of company founder Carl Pei.
Expand Expanding CloseHere’s the full Google Chrome browser running on Fuchsia [Gallery]
Google’s homegrown Fuchsia operating system has taken another step closer to being broadly usable by gaining the full Google Chrome browser experience.
Expand Expanding CloseChrome OS will soon let you disable automatic updates
Google will soon offer Chrome OS device owners a bit more control over their devices, by letting you turn off automatic updates.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle Maps has disabled live traffic data in Ukraine
Amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Google has almost entirely disabled the country’s live traffic data from being visible in Google Maps.
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Lenovo Tab M10 Plus is a $190 tablet w/ Android 12, Entertainment Space, more
As part of Mobile World Congress, Lenovo is unveiling its latest Android tablet, the third-generation Tab M10 Plus, which is set to offer a strong media experience without breaking the bank.
Expand Expanding CloseLenovo announces Flex 3i and Flex 5i affordable and mid-range Chromebooks
As part of MWC, Lenovo is announcing a few new Chrome OS devices, including the well-rounded IdeaPad Flex 5i and more affordable Flex 3i Chromebooks.
Expand Expanding CloseThis week’s top stories: Pixel 7 renders leak, Pixel 6 Wi-Fi fix inbound, Google Search gets darker theme
In this week’s top stories: we get our first look at the familiar-looking Pixel 7 in new renders, Google promises a fix to the Pixel 6’s Wi-Fi issues, Google Search’s dark theme gets darker, and more.
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